dr hab. Arkadiusz Bialic, prof. AMKP
Arkadiusz Bialic – Cracovian, organist, teacher, organizer of musical events and the first Pole ever to win a prize at the Grand Prix de Chartres competition – one of the world’s most prestigious organ competitions.
He studied the organ under Prof. Józef Serafin at the Academy of Music in Cracow, from where he graduated with distinction in the year 2000. At that time he took part in numerous master classes, gaining valuable experience in the fields of authentic performance and symphonic organ music (under – among others – Marie-Clair Alain, Guy Bovet, Olivier Latry, Jon Laukvik, Ludger Lohman, Daniel Roth and Harald Vogel).
Having completed a postgraduate course at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, he saw before him the vast horizon of contemporary organ music. It is thanks to his cooperation with Prof. Zsigmond Száthmary – the world-famous organist and composer, who is a friend and former pupil of György Ligeti and Karlheinz Stockhausen – that contemporary music is now a permanent feature of his repertoire.
His further studies – this time in the field of solo performance – took him to the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, where he studied under Prof. Daniel Roth, the well-known composer and head organist of the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, who continues the tradition of Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré. In order to be able to take this course – which he successfully completed in 2003 – he was awarded scholarships by two German foundations: the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) and the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung.
Arkadiusz Bialic has received many prestigious awards at international organ competitions, including the third prize at the Schweizer Orgelwettbewerb in 1998 and the second prize at the International Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Organ Competition held in Gdańsk in the year 2000. Two years later, he was the first Pole ever to win a prize (the second prize) at the Grand Prix de Chartres competition in France (which is one of the world’s most important organ competitions) and was thus able to embark on an international career as a soloist.
He has taken part in many renowned festivals in Spain, France, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Italy, as well as in most of the important organ festivals in Poland. As a soloist, he has played with the Polish National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra, The Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ostrava Philharmonic Orchestra, the Capella Cracoviensis and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra. He has also given the first public performances of several contemporary works, including Wojciech Widłak’s Wziemięwzięcie for organ and symphony orchestra, which he played with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the inauguration of the 51st “Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music which was held in 2008. He has also made many recordings for Polish and Slovak Radio. His CD recording of Feliks Nowowiejski’s oratorium entitled Quo vadis was nominated for the Polish “Fryderyk” prize in 2017.
Arkadiusz Bialic is one of the most highly-regarded interpreters of French nineteenth- and twentieth-century organ music. His repertoire comprises works ranging from the Renaissance to the present day, including all the organ works of Nicolas de Grigny, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, César Franck and Maurice Duruflé. He has also given many Polish first public performances of major works in the world repertoire of organ music, including compositions by Joseph Jongen, Michael Radulescu, Thierry Escaich and Zsigmond Száthmary. It goes without saying that on his concert tours he has also made a point of bringing Polish music to a wider audience.
He currently holds the post of assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Cracow. As well as being a recognized organ expert, he is also Chairman of the Bronisław Rutkowski “Ars Organi” Foundation, Artistic Director of the International “Organ Music Days” Festival in Cracow and Artistic Director of the Kromer Biecz Festival, which is one of the most important festivals of Early Music in Poland.
arkadiusz.bialic@amuz.krakow.pl